A Fighting Fire
by thenextchapter
Summary: When the unknown daughter of Valentine Morgenstern turns up at the institute seeking refuge, Jace is put under a whirlwind of emotions. She is brave and has a fighting fire that no one else can see but can she be trusted? She is broken from her past and doesn't trust anyone. Jace is the only one that understands but when everyone wants to keep them apart can love ever be enough?


I ignored my fatigue as I continued attacking the punching bag. My pounding heart and rapid breath telling me to stop, but I couldn't. Not now. It was the only thing that could clear my mind. It was the only thing stopping me from losing it and attacking a real person. I needed this. After a while, my body's needs faded and the only thing that mattered was the pounding of my fist until it became a rhythmic song.

"What did the punching bag ever do to you?" Izzy's voice rang through the room, bouncing off the walls. I stopped, finally, and turned, giving her my signature smirk.

"It was giving me attitude." Izzy just rolled her eyes and strolled further into the training room.

"Well, as fun as watching you... do whatever the hell you were just doing is, Hodge wants us to do something."

"Wow, that was specific. Want to expand more on what this "thing he wants us to do" is?" She stalked over to where the weapons were stored, talking as she did.

"Something about some newbie shadowhunter? I don't know. Just go and shower. Quickly?" She reached for a seraph blade, the sharp edges glistening in the dim light.

"Shower? Why do I need a shower?"

Isabelle scrunched up her nose in disgust and showed her usual look of disdain.

"Jace, you stink. Really badly." I grinned.

"Jace Wayland doesn't stink. He wafts."

"Well you _waft_ like someone who hasn't had a shower in years."

With a final roll of my eyes, I made my way towards the door, stopping to turn back to Izzy.

"You wish you smelt as good as me." In advance, I could see as her hand slipped to the handle of the seraph blade and as soon as I said it, I ran from the room. I could hear the bang as the blade made contact with the wall opposite to where my head had been merely two seconds before.

"You missed," I taunted as I ran up the stairs.

...

I didn't bother rushing. If Hodge really needed me, then he could wait. I enjoyed my leisurely shower and took my time as I changed into a loose shirt and casual jeans, I doubted he wanted me on a mission so it was pointless dressing in shadowhunter gear. Still, I picked up my seraph blade as I was leaving, it was a comfort to me.

I jogged down the stairs and slowed as I heard voices from the library.

"Does she not speak?" Alec. He sounded curious but wary. Not like himself.

"She's a wreck." Isabelle. Was that sympathy I detected?

"Well, what's wrong with her?"

"Why should I know?"  
"She's not very... talkative."

"Alec, she's obviously gone through something traumatic. Show some pity."

"Don't." The voice belonged to a woman, a girl perhaps? She was shaky but there was a hard edge, a warning.

"I don't want your pity. I'm not weak."

"Nobody said you were." Hodge, kind old Hodge. It was my turn now.

Before the conversation could get any further, I opened the door and stepped into the library, taking in the scene before me. Izzy and Alec were standing by the fireplace, full on staring at the figure in the armchair. From where I stood, all I could see was the back of the chair and the top of a head with red hair.

"What? Started the party without me?" I kept my eyes trained on that chair, carefully making my way around, my grip on my blade tightening.

"Well, you were certainly taking your time, Jace." I glanced up, surprised. Hodge stood at the top of the staircase, looking over the scene like a wise old man.

"It takes a long time to get my hair looking this good." My attention was back on the chair.

I heard him sigh, a common sound when I was around and he began to make his way down the stairs.

"Jace, meet Clarissa Morgenstern," I froze. Morgenstern. Morgenstern as in...

"Valentine's daughter," Hodge finished. My eyes widened and my head shot towards Alec and Izzy. They wore the same wary expression, their eyes still on the girl, but they didn't seem surprised. Hodge must have told them before I came in.

"What's a Morgenstern doing in the Institute?" It came out as a hiss and in reply, there was a whimpering sound from the chair. My eyes narrowed as I finally made my move to the front of the chair. What I saw, was not what I was expecting.

A girl, my age? Perhaps a year younger. Her hair was a fiery red that fell in tangled knots around her back. She sat curled up, her back pressed against the chair in a position of submission and fright. It was her eyes though that caught my attention. She looked like a scared lamb, an expression of terror on her face but her vibrant, green eyes told something different. They held a strength, a fire that matched her hair.

She didn't look like she should be Valentine's daughter either. A purple bruise was noticeable along her right eye and her face was crusted with dirt and blood. She wore rags for clothes. A man's shirt that was too big, ripped at the collar and sleeves.

Her eyes wandered from mine to the blade in my hand. With a sudden movement, she jumped from her chair and scurried to the back wall, keeping her gaze on me. Eyes wide, I could tell that she was in terror and she looked harmless but I knew better.

"Jace. Put the weapon down." Hodge's voice was surprisingly calm and that's what I did. However, when the weapon was placed down, the girl didn't relax.

"Isabelle, why don't you show Clarissa to a spare room and get her cleaned up." I was vaguely aware as Izzy walked towards the girl but my focus was on her and hers was on me until Izzy touched her shoulder to get her attention. She jumped back.

" Don't touch me." Her eyes were wide as she glanced at Izzy who put her hands up in surrender.

"We're not going to hurt you. If you follow me, I can show you to a shower and give you new clothes. Do you want that?"

Clarissa hesitated a moment before nodding. She followed after Izzy slowly and they made their way towards the door. After they left, there was a silence that filled the room and I stood where I was without moving, staring at the spot where the Morgenstern girl used to stand. And then...

"What the hell just happened?"

...

"Why is she here?" Hodge, Alec and I sat around the small table in the institute, a cup of Hodge's tea in front of us but mine was untouched. I wasn't particularly thirsty at the moment due to complications involving some evil bastard's daughter.

"She needs our protection." Hodge replied.

"Our protection? If anything, we need protection from her," Alec's eyes had widened and he was whispering for some reason. I wasn't sure why, it wasn't like the girl could hear him from two floors above.

"Yeah because she's so dangerous." I don't know why I said it sarcastically because the truth was she was dangerous. I don't know if the others saw it, but those eyes told me that she was willing to do whatever was needed to survive. There's no doubt in my mind that she's killed before. Whether it was for the right reasons, I'm not sure.

"She's Valentine's daughter Jace. She personally might not be able to harm us, but he certainly can." He had a point.

"So what? You think she's his spy?" Alec shrugged, leaning back in his seat.

"That's the most logical explanation."

"Yes it is. That's why we're not going to let her leave the institute." Hodge spoke up but what he said made me narrow my eyes.

"We're keeping her prisoner?" Hodge opened his mouth, no doubt to reply to my question before Alec spoke up. Again.

"What's the point in that? Let's just let her go, she hasn't got any information to give him yet."

Hodge, shook his head, his eyes drooped closed with weariness.

"There's the chance that she's not a spy and just a young shadowhunter running from her own father." Alec snorted and even I had to admit that was a far stretch.

"Hear me out," he said over Alec before he could protest some more.

"Valentine's children is a touchy subject among the shadowhunter community."

"Must be really touchy, I didn't even know he had any," I interrupted.

"Exactly. It's not something we like to discuss. You know the story of Valentine though, about the circle and Jocelyn." We nodded confirmative.

"Well, Jocelyn really did love Valentine and when she got pregnant, it was a happy time. We celebrated and Valentine was proud of his baby to be. But then things changed. He became obsessed with power and his hate for the clave grew. He believed that the only way to get the clave to see what he saw, was to bring something more powerful, more dangerous into the world. He began poisoning his wife, not enough to kill her but enough to have an effect on her pregnancy. He injected her with demon's venom and blood and when the baby was born, he wasn't entirely human."

"Half demon? We have a half demon in the institute?!" I think Alec was having a haemorrhage. Seriously, his face was going red, veins were staring to pop out, it was a scary sight to behold.

"Not Clarissa. Sebastian, her brother. He faked his death as you both know but he also faked his son's. Jocelyn was overcome with grief, her husband and son were dead and at this point, she didn't know what kind of a man Valentine was and she was pregnant with Clarissa. We all thought he was dead. We moved on. But then the rumours started. Downworlders started the whispers that he was back. Now, no one knows for sure what really happened, but one day there was Jocelyn with her eight year old girl and the next there was Jocelyn, dead in the bath tub and the little girl was gone. Everyone assumed that Jocelyn had killed herself, overcome with grief but no one knew what happened to Clarissa. It appears that we have found her, battered and bruised. She was such a sweet girl. I don't feel comfortable giving her back to an abusive father even if she is his spy."

I sat in silence, digesting the new information. It was a horrible story if it was true, but what if she was a spy? What if she was working alongside Valentine and they had just given away all of the Clave's secrets. What then?

A cough from behind us caught our attention and when we turned, we saw Izzy leaning against the doorway with Clarissa standing awkwardly behind her. She had had a shower, that much was obvious from her wet hair that was tied back into a knot and the fact that her face was no clear from the blood and dirt. Now that I had a proper look at her, I had to admit she was stunningly beautiful. Her eyes stood out against her pale complexion and for once in my life, I was speechless. She wore some of Izzy's stuff, too big for her on her petit build but better than her previous rags.

I stood, the chair scraping against the floor, creating an ugly sound in the otherwise silent room.

"You can sit here." From the edge of my vision, I saw Alec give me a look which I couldn't read but I kept my eyes on the girl who smiled slightly as thanks before moving to sit. At least she was less wary of us now. Still hesitant, but not petrified.

I moved to sit in the chair opposite my previous one as Hodge began to get information from her.

"Clarissa..."  
"Clary. Please." She interrupted. Her voice was less raspy and more musical. It was beautiful, just like her.

"Clary," Hodge continued. "Can I ask what happened to you?"

She looked down, tensing slightly. She shut her eyes and breathed through her mouth.

"Look, I'm sorry I came in like this. I was being chased by a ravener and I lost my weapon a while back and I saw this institute and well... I can go if you want. I don't want anything from you, I shouldn't have come."

"Don't be silly. You're welcome here." At this she looked up, a brow raised in disbelief.

"Do you know who I am?"

"Clarissa Mor..."  
"Clary. My name's Clary." There was a glint in her eye, anger or sadness?

"And I know you know my name. Do you know who my father is?"

"Valentine Morgenstern," I spoke up. They all looked at me, their heads whipping in my direction at the same time. It was humorous really.

"Yes," she answered, her dazzling eyes piercing into mine, I was left speechless. Again. _Come on_ _Jace! Man up! _

"If you know, why do you trust me to stay?"

"Well, if you go and tell your daddy anything, we will kill you."

"Jace!" Izzy hissed from where she stood by the door but I was focused completely on the girl in front of me. She didn't seem offended, she was smiling, a small grin. She was pretty when she smiled.

"Understandable, I suppose."

"Well then, we shouldn't have any problems."


End file.
